verbStrong class 7cto stretch, spanOriginally a strong verb of the seventh class, the long -n- comes from an earlier form *spanwaną-. Perhaps ultimately an ablautive form from the same source as *spinnaną (‘to spin’), though Kroonen alternatively derives the verb from a Proto-Indo-European *spend- (‘to stretch’), comparing Lithuanian spę́sti (‘to snare’), Latvian spanda (‘strap’), Old Church Slavonic спѫдъ (spǫdŭ, ‘corn-measure, measure, peck’).